AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Round 1: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

Paul Azinger didn’t win THE PLAYERS Championship in 1991, but he made an impression. After sleeping on the 54-hole lead at the end of a particularly windy week, he shot 74 to finish T3. Steve Elkington won the first of two PLAYERS titles, but in its recap, Sports Illustrated writer John Garrity called Azinger, “the Tour’s most personable and exciting young player.â€� In other words, he was good TV.  Azinger’s second career as a TV golf analyst got a turbo boost when he was named Monday as NBC’s successor to retiring Johnny Miller. Azinger has called golf for ABC, ESPN and Fox. Now, in taking on NBC, he inherits one of the network’s crown jewels, THE PLAYERS, where players try to quell their nerves with disaster looming off every tee box and near every green. “Well, I haven’t won there, unfortunately,â€� Azinger said Monday of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. “But I definitely have some last-group-on-Sunday experiences at TPC and I know what it’s like to sleep on the lead there. It’s different than most places because there’s a lot of water on that golf course and you can pay a heavy price on just about every hole. “But you can’t get past thinking about 17 at any point,â€� he added, “and you have to keep reminding yourself that you’re not there yet, you’re not there yet.â€� Monday was a happy occasion for Azinger, 58, who also will appear on Golf Channel’s Live From the Masters, contribute to instructional projects, and assist with Golf Films programming. A teleconference with the national media featured plenty of laughs between Azinger; NBC Golf Executive Vice President of Content Molly Solomon; and Lead Golf Producer Tommy Roy.  Alas, the frivolity will be short-lived, as there’s much work to be done.  In addition to continuing to call the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open for Fox, and the Masters for the BBC, Azinger’s NBC dance card is full. He’ll start with the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, February 21-24; call The Open Championship, which he’s done previously with ESPN; work the Ryder Cup, the tournament where he made his mark as a player and later as the winning U.S. captain in 2008; and decamp for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.   He will call the action from places where he’s won, like Bay Hill (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard) and Waialae Country Club (Sony Open in Hawaii), and places where he hasn’t. The first biggie, though, will be THE PLAYERS in March, it being a potential career-maker for players (Elkington, Davis Love III) and broadcasters (Gary Koch: “Better than most!â€�) alike. Azinger compiled four top-10s and seven top-20 finishes in 19 starts at TPC Sawgrass. He also made a memorable ace at the island 17th hole in 2000.  Now he gets to take on the iconic tournament in a whole new way: calling it like he sees it from the 18th tower.    “It’s a scary golf course and I haven’t won on it, but I respect anybody that does,â€� said Azinger. “And the magnitude of the event; the fact that it’s the strongest field of the year, year-in and year-out, is, you know, a big part of it.… I look forward to getting in this and sharing with the general public what that place is all about.â€� You can’t get past thinking about 17 at any point, and you have to keep reminding yourself that you’re not there yet, you’re not there yet. Azinger and Miller have similar styles; both are direct and unapologetic, and both are above all loyal to the viewers. Azinger said he will speak up when players thrive/wilt under pressure, but while maintaining respect for the game and its players. It would be “irresponsible,â€� he said, to call anyone a choker, and he wants to build up the game and its players. After all, he’s been there, standing on the tee as he eyes the flagstick bending in the breeze, whitecaps on the water, the tournament hanging in the balance. It’s an uneasy feeling, and one that Azinger expects will come flooding back to him at times as he begins his career with NBC. “You have to have butterflies to do a good job, I feel,â€� he said. “I remember teeing off at the Masters one year without butterflies, how shameful. I hate to even admit that. But I didn’t have any butterflies because I knew I wasn’t going to be any good. “I did have butterflies this morning,â€� he added.

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Amid numerous accommodations and considerable restructuring, the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season also has had a series of checkpoints that have contributed to reconnecting with the customary arc of an uninterrupted season. Every step along the way has presented a different feel in how we consume it as fans. This week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide also is distinguishing. It’s the 36th of 50 scheduled events of 2020-21. Because of the pandemic, last season had a total of 36 tournaments. So, if you wondered how the super season might feel in real time, think about everything you experienced in 2019-20 before realizing that 15 tournaments remain to be contested this season. While interesting to contemplate, it’s far from the most important matter concerning the annual trip to Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. For details on that and more, continue reading past the projected contenders. RELATED: The First Look | How the field qualified POWER RANKINGS: THE MEMORIAL Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include reviews of Patrick Reed, Sam Burns, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler and other notables. If it’s possible to play the same golf course three different ways in as many consecutive tournaments, then Muirfield Village is where the magic happens. You’ll recall that Jack Nicklaus’ home club served as the site of the Workday Charity Open immediately before the annual Memorial last year. As expected, scoring for the Workday was measurably easier than the nightcap of the twin bill. The one-time expanded field of 132 at the 2020 Memorial averaged 74.007, its highest in 12 years. The 157-man Workday checked up at 71.853. In contradiction to its profile over time, fairways and greens were harder to hit for the Memorial. The field averaged just 7.46 (of 14) fairways and 10.36 GIR per round last year. That ranked sixth- and fifth-stingiest of all courses last season in those stats, respectively. Jon Rahm’s winning pace of 9-under 279 was the highest since Tiger Woods posted the same as the 2012 champion. Gusty winds inflated the 2020 final-round scoring average to 75.96, highest of any tournament since the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open. This time around, the stock par 72 will look different to those in the field of 121 who have played it before. Beginning as the final round of the 2020 Memorial was concluding – you read that right – Muirfield Village since has undergone a significant renovation. All greens were rebuilt, 12 of which reshaped in some noticeable way on and around the targets. They still average 5,000 square feet, but because they are new, the bentgrass surfaces will have some spring to them on approach, so they might play even smaller but they’ll likely run no longer than 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. (At some point in the near-future, it would be surprising if they don’t mature to stretch to 13 feet or so to align with Nicklaus’ historical preference as the slickest putting surfaces of all PGA TOUR-operated competitions.) All bunkers were upgraded and, by default, some may serve as a greater hazard as compared to recent editions. See, the sweeping modifications across the property generated a net gain of 87 yards on the scorecard, just two of which on the inward side. At 455 yards, the par-4 13th is the only hole that hasn’t changed. The course now tips at 7,543 yards. The primary rough is four inches high. It’d be incorrect to label Muirfield Village as a new test, but many elements of it are just that. Fresh sightlines off a few tees and unfamiliar undulations on the greens could be confusing. It’s the kind of mind game for which success piling onto impressive course history could be classified as coincidental. Then again, Nicklaus has nipped and tucked the course almost every year, and the leaderboards have sparkled with household names, but just like with the Golden Bear himself, class is permanent. En route to 550 FedExCup points, a three-year membership exemption (or one-year extension to the maximum of five) and a three-year exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship, the winner likely will navigate inclement weather, at least until the cut line. A very good chance of rain and possibly storms populates Thursday’s forecast. Another threat will emerge on Friday, but the limited field makes it easier to complete both rounds on time at this latitude in early June. Daytimes temperatures will rise into the 80s for what should be a dry weekend. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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Tournament host Greg Norman announced today the 24 players set to compete in the 2017 QBE Shootout, scheduled for December 6-10. Fifteen of the top 50 players in the world will comprise this year’s field which includes Lexi Thompson, the highest ranked American player on the LPGA Tour at No.3, as well as defending champions Harris English and Matt Kuchar, who’s ranked No. 14 in the world on the men’s circuit. Tournament officials also announced today that Sunday’s final round will be broadcast live on NBC from 2-4 p.m. The first two rounds will be carried live by Golf Channel as the event returns for the 17th year to Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla. The field includes ten players who have either won last season or the early part of this year’s PGA TOUR schedule for a combined 12 victories. That group is led by Brendan Steele and Pat Perez who have won twice during that span, including this month’s Safeway Open and CIMB Classic, respectively. Other current champions are Daniel Berger, Kevin Chappell, Jason Dufner, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner and Kyle Stanley. Steele and Dufner are also part of a group of eight past QBE Shootout champions scheduled to compete. Sean O’Hair, Brandt Snedeker, this year’s U.S. Presidents Cup captain Steve Stricker, Keegan Bradley, English and Kuchar are the others. Six players will compete for the first time in the $3.3 million event–Tony Finau, Shane Lowry, Harman, Perez, Henley and Stanley. Two-time TOUR winner Gary Woodland as well as four-time champion and a member of this year’s Presidents Cup team Charley Hoffman are among the 18 players returning to the Shootout field. Bubba Watson, the two-time Masters champion, is part of a five-some that has won major championships during their careers. Zach Johnson, winner of the Masters and Open Championship, as well as U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, and PGA Championship winners Bradley and Dufner are among that elite group. “Looking at this list of players for our 29th edition I can’t help but be excited about the prospects for this year’s tournament,â€� Norman said. “Not only is this a group of competitive and successful players in the game of golf but they are also quality people away from the game. Bringing them all together for a week, along with our amateurs and corporate partners, is a recipe for another memorable moment in the history of this event as we welcome QBE Insurance.â€� “As we prepare for QBE’s first Shootout as title sponsor, we could not be happier with the collection of players who have been assembled to compete this December. QBE is looking forward to welcoming many of golf’s best to Naples and is excited to have our customers interact with this world class field,â€� Russ Johnston, Chief Executive Officer of QBE North America said. The 12 two-person teams will be finalized in early November. The criteria for players qualifying for the 24-person field was adjusted this year to accurately reflect today’s PGA TOUR standards. The Shootout’s field is comprised of its defending champions playing as a team, the top 12 committed professionals from the final 2017 FedExCup standings and 10 special exemptions; a minimum of four which will come from the top 40 on the PGA TOUR Career money list. The QBE Shootout will once again feature a scramble format during the first round, a modified alternate shot format on Saturday and a final-round better ball on Sunday. CureSearch for Children’s Cancer is the tournament’s primary charitable beneficiary. Additionally, to support the relief efforts of Hurricane Irma, the QBE Shootout has recently launched a hurricane relief fund to support the local recovery efforts. Since 1989, the Shootout has raised more than $13 million for charitable causes. New for this year’s tournament will be a Friday night concert featuring the popular Ben Allen Band from 5-8 p.m. on the Tiburon clubhouse lawn. The Family Golf Clinic returns and will be held Saturday, December 9th immediately following play on the practice facility. Tickets are currently on sale with prices starting at $25 for grounds tickets. The popular Shark Pass Booklets are available for $110.   THE FIELD Daniel Berger Matt Kuchar Keegan Bradley Shane Lowry Kevin Chappell Graeme McDowell Jason Dufner Sean O’Hair Harris English Pat Perez Tony Finau Brandt Snedeker Brian Harman Kyle Stanley Russell Henley Brendan Steele Charley Hoffman Steve Stricker Billy Horschel Lexi Thompson Zach Johnson Bubba Watson Kevin Kisner   

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